Enhanced Life Estate Deed, Lady Bird Deed. Florida

General Real Estate Investing
1

I am looking for an investor to enter into an Enhanced Life Estate Deed with me in the state of Florida. The property is a single family residence, tax value today is $350k, but I purchased it 2 years ago for $490k. I have 50% equity (based on tax value).

Basically I am looking to sell the inhertiance rights to this property as I have no heirs.
I can be specific in detail when I find the right investor.

Does anyone know of such an investor? Does anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

Thanks in advance.

2

Sorry but no answer. What is a Lady Bird Deed. Thanks, Herbster

3

The hard part will be valuing the residual interest and I doubt most investors would even consider it because you can sell it. This is set up is designed to avoid probate and maintain the right occupy and sell the property while alive. Why not sell it outright?

4

Thanks for your responses.
Here it is…I want to sell the inheritance rights to my home/property at a discounted rate.
For example, an investor would buy the rights to inherit a $350k valued home for $250k.
This is a very, very nice 3000 sq ft home on 5 acres surrounded by orange trees; a very good piece of real estate. No risk here that it will appreciate from it’s current tax value.
Upon my passing, the investor would realize a return on his investment that would be dependent upon the appreciation of the property. If I pass away one day after the deal, he is instantly 100K richer. Also, his tax hit would be minimal, because he is INHERITING the real estate. All the benefits of owning real estate without having to pay property taxes, or maintaining the property, etc.
Simple enough in this context.

However the details would have to be hammered out. I want to stay here until my passing. I have no heirs. The property would not be sold as you suggest. Or, if beneficial to both parties, a “call date” could be established where either party could back out, with the investor being paid interest for his consideration over the time between the inception of the deal and the call date…
All of this could be hammered out in a deal that is beneficial to both myself and the right investor.

5

If you are looking for more cash to have a better quality of life, why not look at a reverse mortgage?

What about a refinance or a line of credit, if you can get it?

Also, could you will your property to a charity of your choice? I have seen advertisements in magazines catering to the affluent, also in magazines catering to the Historic Trust, etc. These advertisements mentioned a cash stream and life estate scenario.

A local estate attorney in your town should be valuable for your planning needs. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Furnishedowner

6

You can sell the property before you die. That’s the enhancement. If you want to just live in it until you pass, then you sell with a life estate. In any case, the investor is taking the risk you won’t maintain the property and will have to wait for you to die before he sees his profit. That is a pretty big risk and commands a pretty big discount.

It might be an easier sell if you did a qualified or non-qualified personal residence trust.

7

Well, I am not old enough to do a reverse mortgage.
I have feelers out with local attorneys (Titusville, FL area) as well as various local investment groups here on the Space Coast.
Secondly, maybe I have used or selected the wrong vehicle for describing my intentions. The proper vehicle may well not be a Lady Bird deed.

I have thought about the downsides for the investor. Yes, the date of my passing is unknown, so the investor would have to consider it a long term deal. As for the upkeep, selling, etc. issues, those would be all addressed in the final detail of the plan. It is not my intention to allow the property to fall into any sort of disrepair, but it is my intention to offer a fair honest investment in real estate to the proper investor. Risk? Very low. All investments have risk, but there is much greater risk in stocks today than the idea that I present, and ppl are climbing all over each other to buy stocks…unknown growth rate stocks. I feel that if you hold the right real estate long enough, you will realize a gain. You don’t want a slum property, and this is a very fine, upscale home in a very nice rural setting. Executive, MD, NASA engineer type home…pool, orange trees all around…very nice. Easily marketable when the time comes.

As I said, call dates could be established for both parties to back out, protections would be built in to protect the investor from the downsides. The worst downside I can see is the non liquid nature of the investment, and the unknown “inheritance date”. The liquidity issue could be handled with an established “call date” for getting out. The discount of 100k I think is quite reasonable, considering the appreciation potential of this property. And, consider that the tax hit has got to be favorable…more favorable than paying capital gains taxes on short term cap gains…such as those incurred when flipping real estate.

Look at it like this, consider a 35 yo investor that has recently aquired money that needs investing. The investor is completely disillusioned with stocks, money market, etc. and wants a long term place to invest for say his kid’s college…He wants to invest in real estate, but he doesn’t want the hassle of upkeep, and property taxes…The market is at it’s bottom trough here…so the real estate is poised to go up…this would be the kind of investor that could benefit.
Or the 70 yo who wants to leave IN HIS ESTATE an investment for his grandkids…

My postings here are to find the proper investor pool…anyone know of such a group or an individual who may be interested? Please post if you do.

8

If you don’t die real quick, you are setting yourself up to get murdered.

Suggestion: sell the house and lease it back. Put your money into whatever investment you like and use the proceeds to pay your rent. That way you get to stay in the house and the investor already has the title, and he has a paying tenant who takes good care of the house, so he’s happy and hopes you stay forever.

9

Yes sir…I absolutely thought about the murder aspect…
Kinda puts a new spin on who is at risk in this deal, huh?

Selling and leasing back…only if the lease could be one dollar per year…but I don’t see that happening…
The whole idea is to free up cash for a better life in my later years.

Also, it would be a very sweet deal for the investor to not have to pay property taxes and still end up owning the property. Property taxes are $5,000 per year on this place, by the way.
Any sale would burden the investor with taxes.

You gave me a great idea though…I think I will pitch this to my local churches. They invest, they pay no taxes on cap gains, and hopefully they don’t murder…

I want to ask once again…does anyone know of the proper venue or arena or method to point me in the direction of possible investors for what I am trying to do?

I really appreciate all input. Thanks.

10

It sounds like a Charitable Remainder Trust or a Charitable Lead Trust would suit your purposes. You donate your property to the trust, the trust sells your house giving you a life estate. The money the trust gets from the sale is invested at market rate of return. The trust pays you each month from the income earned on the invested funds. And, you get an immedate tax deduction for your charitable contribution.

If this sounds like what you are trying to accomplish, then maybe a charitable trust is your answer. Your own church may have a gifting program that does this.

If you need the cash from the sale, why not just sell your current equity and make the buyer a joint tenant with right of survivorship. Still gets you to the same end result as the plan you are proposing. If you are willing to take care of all the upkeep and all the taxes and insurance, your buyer may be willing to forgo the stepped up basis on your share of the property, yet still have the same “retirement” benefit that you describe. Make the deal even more attractive. Sell to the investor on an installment sale with no money down.